The Forgotten Princess (SokkaxOC)

ii. XIV

A/N; Hello, my dear simp army- I mean, readers!

Just to be brief, this chapter is kinda more filler fluff - and I promise, it's the last one before Lake Laogai - but I felt it was a necessary step to get the characters where I want them to be. So you know how at the end of the last chapter I said I had some ideas for a few Ba Sing Se oneshots? Yeah, that idea kinda went out the window and turned into this chapter.

As per usual, took a while to get it right blah blah same a/n shit I make in every chapter, honestly why do I even write these anymore. I feel like you probably all know what I'm going to write here anyways.

Now, before we start the ride, I am legally obligated by the Wattpad Anti-Simp Committee™ to remind you all to keep two hands on the phone at all times... so uh yeah do that :)

Azami P.o.V.

"Well, that was pointless," Azami groaned as she slumped back on the couch.

Having just come back from her long-awaited meeting with the Earth King, she accepted that it had basically gone both as well and as poorly as it could've done. Thankfully, there was no offense taken or anything like that, but... well, she had a feeling the gaang wouldn't like what came of the meeting either. Or, rather, what didn't.

It was hard for her to believe they'd already spent a month in the city - and, even more surprising, was how little actually came of that. Outside of her relationship with Sokka, it felt like the days were blending together, with almost no end in sight.

So it wasn't exactly a shock to her when they all swarmed around her almost the second she sat down, no doubt desperate for any positive answers - and her gut wrenched knowing she had nothing to offer them. "Well, what did the king have to say?" Aang asked hopefully. "Does he know where Appa is?"

It hurt her a lot, seeing his fragile expression, especially since she knew her news would crush him - but she wasn't going to lie to him either. They all deserved to know the truth.

"Not in the slightest," she muttered, burying her face in her hands for a moment. "The supposed 'private' meeting was all of about ten minutes long, and supervised by Long Feng the entire time, so I couldn't mention anything about the war. And the one time I was able to ask about Appa, he had nothing to offer in the slightest. No news, no rumors - nothing."

Like she feared, that quickly dampened the moods of the others - both Aang and Sokka seeming crushed. The only two reasons they'd come to the city, and it seemed the King was worthless for both. Any previous doubts about him being Long Feng's puppet had now vanished - in her eyes, at least.

"So the King can't help us, then," Katara accepted miserably. "There goes our chances of having allies for the invasion. And if even the King can't find Appa... what do we do now?"

For some reason, everyone - even Toph - turned to look at Azami, as if she had any answers. In truth, she felt as hopeless as they did right now. But, if they were going to look up to her in this moment - then she wasn't going to give in to her despair. One way or another, they'd find a way through this. They always did.

"We keep looking," she announced, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "We know Appa is somewhere in this city, and we aren't going to give up on him. No matter what."

Like any other day, they decided to split up again and continue searching in pairs, with Aang going alone since he could cover more ground quickly. They were now at roughly three quarters of the lower ring searched - by Azami's estimate, at least - but still nothing.